Turner Broadcasting trying new tricks in book to woo pre-teens: Benjamin Grubbs

MUMBAI: Marketers are drooling about the business prospects that the youth population of India presents. While every brand is doing something to engage with the youngsters, Turner Broadcasting is trying new tricks in the book to woo the pre-teens. Benjamin Grubbs, ED - Interactive media, Turner Broadcasting System, APac was recently visiting the country and took sometime out to talk to ET. Excerpts.

The market currently is very exciting, its changing and is very different from what it was earlier. Earlier it was only about PC, but there is social networks, YouTube, mobile and digital - the mix today is far greater. This has been possible because of greater penetration of internet today. What was 2% last year has gone up to as much as 8% this year and a lot of people have access to internet at home.

I don't think so, today on an average a kid spends 25 minute in front of TV, while he may not watch the same channel throughout, the consumption is very dynamic and we need to develop innovative solutions to cater to this audience. Pogo viewership has seen 150% YOY growth.

How do you engage with audience online?

There is no single formula, we try a number of things. We get 2 million unique visitors across our websites. A large number of registration on our website comprise of children in the 10-11 age group. Of the 12.1 million users who came online to cartoonnetworkindia.com and and pogo.tv gaming was the main activity that kids engage in, upto 67% of them. We have created a Cricket Club online which had estimated 10 million game plays in 2011.

Do you have plans to expand your consumer base?

Our TG mostly belongs to the 8-12 age group, but in the US we a TV channel called Adult Swim which is extremely popular with 18-29 year olds. Its been very successful there and we will be rolling out programs to increase reach with audience beyond teens.

What are your top priorities for the Indian market?

Our top priorities is to increase reach across the region, get ahead of technology and provide relevant content for our viewers. In the Jan - Dec '11 period there has been 7 times increase in our engagement with customers and this has happened across medium - mobile, tablets, PCs. We want to do this better in the future.